‘Sicario,’ ‘The Visit’ Top Disc Charts

'Star Wars' fever still rampant on Blu-ray Disc sales chart

The Lionsgate crime drama “Sicario” outpaced another new release, Universal Pictures’ supernatural “The Visit,” to take the top spot on the national home video sales charts the week ended Jan. 10.

“Sicario,” a crime drama centered around the Mexican drug war and starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro, debuted at No. 1 on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, which tracks combined Blu-ray Disc and DVD unit sales, as well as Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart, coming off a theatrical run that earned $46.9 million domestically.

Universal’s “The Visit,” from director M. Night Shyamalan, debuted at No. 2 on the overall chart and No. 4 on the Blu-ray Disc chart. The film, about two kids visiting their grandparents and discovering a dark secret about them, earned more than $65 million in U.S. theaters.

The previous week’s top seller, Sony Pictures’ faith-based “War Room,” dropped to No. 3 overall, with No. 4 going to new release “Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser,” a direct-to-video sequel, also from Sony Pictures, to the 2001 David Spade comedy.

Universal Pictures’ “Minions” rounded out the top five.

On the Blu-ray Disc chart, “Star Wars” mania continued with “Star Wars: The Original Trilogy” and “The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy,” both from 20th Century Fox, finishing the week at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, down a notch from the prior week.

“Minions” also came in at No. 5 on the Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

“Sicario” generated 52% of its first-week sales from Blu-ray Disc. The film is one of four that are included in Lionsgate’s initial batch of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc releases, due to arrive in stores on March 1 to coincide with the release of the first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc player, from Samsung.
“The Visit” generated 38% of its week-one sales from Blu-ray Disc, to just 20% for the “Joe Dirt” sequel.

On Home Media Magazine’s rental chart for the week, “Sicario” also debuted at No. 1. “Minions” came off its 28-day holdback from Redbox video rental kiosks to move up to No. 2, with Sony Pictures’ “The Perfect Guy” and “The Walk” bowing at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Twentieth Century Fox’s “The Transporter Refueled” came off its month-long holdback from Redbox and shot up to No. 5.